A Challenge to All Patriots

Dec. 8, 2009

By Screamin Eagle

A CHALLENGE & NEW YEARS RESOLUTION ~ ALL CONCERNED AMERICANS PLEASE READ & FORWARD TO ALL

***AMERICA NEEDS EACH & EVERYONE of OUR HELP ~ it is OUR DUTY to PROTECT OUR CONSTITUTION ~ WE MUST STAND NOW PEACEFULLY or FIGHT LATER ~ BUT… it will take WE THE PEOPLE (ALL OF US ~ DON’T ASSUME EVERYONE ELSE is DOING THEIR PART) for it to WORK ~ for CHANGE WE THE PEOPLE can SURVIVE ~ PLEASE take a MOMENT to READ & REPOST ANY & EVERY WHERE***

To the VERY PASSIONATE and GOD LOVING ~ CONCERNED CITIZENS and PATRIOTS of THIS GREAT COUNTRY!!! LAND of the FREE ~ HOME of the BRAVE!!! REMEMBER ~ Phil 4:13

THANK YOU for ALL of the HARD WORK YOU have been doing (email ~ mail ~ phone ~ blogs ~ websites ~ copy & paste ~ forward etc…) that is all GREAT ~ I’m sure it does help ~ HOWEVER it is HIDDEN from WE THE PEOPLE ~ WE MUST UNITE TOGETHER & NETWORK ~ THOSE of US who have LOOKED into the VERY LITTLE info from NOBAMAS PAST ~ have EVERY REASON to be CONCERNED for OUR FUTURE ~ OUR CHILDRENS FUTURE ~ THIS ALL of US KNOW because WE are INFORMED and have NOT been put under the MEDIA INDUCED TRANCE. AS I said before THANK YOU ~ WE ARE SLOWLY gaining ground ~ there are MILLIONS of CONCERNED CITIZENS just like YOU & ME ~ AROUND the WORLD ~ WE MUST REACH THEM ~ THEN with THOSE kind of #’S ~ WE THE PEOPLE WILL be HEARD & SEEN.

I CHALLENGE EACH & EVERY ONE of YOU ~ TO TAKE 2 DAYS FROM BLOGGING ~ FORWARDING ~ EMAILING ~ ETC… and READ THIS and FORWARD ~ NETWORK & UNITE ~ WE MUST if WE WANT CHANGE AMERICA can SURVIVE. DON”T ASSUME EVERYONE ELSE is DOING THEIR PART ~ WE ALL MUST DO THIS if WE THE PEOPLE is to be HEARD.

CREATIVE NETWORKING and WHO WE NEED TO REACH
1 ~ VETERANS GROUPS ~ VFW ~ MILITARY HISTORY @ WEST POINT ~ PENTAGON
2 ~ LOCAL NEWSPAPERS ~ BLOG ~ WRITE LETTERS TO EDITORS ~ LEAVE COMMENTS
3 ~ CHRISTIAN LEADERS AND PLACES OF WORSHIP
4 ~ HANNITY ~ RUSH ~ BOORTZ ~ LAURA ~ BECK ~ FOX NEWS (MILLIONS OF FANS) GO IN TEAMSTO THEIR SITES AND LET THEM KNOW WE ARE HERE
5 ~ CONTACT ALL COUNTRY STARS (NOT TOBY KEITH ~ HE ENDORSED NOBAMA ~ CANYOU BELIEVE THAT?) ACTORS ~ CHUCK NORRIS ~ CLINT EASTWOOD ~ AND GET THEMTO HELP STAND UP WITH US ~ THERE ARE MILLIONS OF US
6 ~ IF WE NETWORK CORRECTLY THE 6TH DEGREE TAKES EFFECT ~ IF WE HAVE A MILLIONPATRIOTS THAT SEND OUT REQUESTS TO 10 OTHER AMERICANS ASKING TO JOIN ~ WE WILL HAVE PATRIOTS ALL ACROSS THIS GREAT LAND OF OURS
WE MUST THINK OUTSIDE the BOX ~ UNITE ~ NETWORK ~ WE CAN NOT TALK ABOUT IT ~ WE MUST BE ABOUT IT

AN OLD FRIEND SAYS THERE ARE 3 KINDS OF PEOPLE IN THE WORLD ~ THOSE THAT MAKE THINGS HAPPEN ~ THOSE THAT WATCH THINGS HAPPEN & THOSE THAT SAY ~ HEY WHAT HAPPENED ~ WHICH ARE YOU?

OK HERE IS “THE PLAN” ~ ROUGH DRAFT ~ BUT IS AS SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE AS FOLLOWS
The KEYS to FORCING THE ONE to ANSWER the MOST IMPORTANT questions OUR COUNTRY has EVER had to ask ~ EXPOSE the MEDIA ~ WAKE the MASSES from THEIR MEDIA INDUCED TRANCE ~~ is for OUR VETERANS and MILLIONS of GOD LOVING PATRIOTS standing up on MAIN STREETS ACROSS this GREAT NATION ~~ in EVERY TOWN and CITY ~ DEMANDING ANSWERS. OBAMA YOU do NOT represent what THIS GREAT COUNTRY is about ~~ SO FAR YOU ARE a SCAM ~~ WE did NOT BLEED ~ FIGHT and DIE for the FREEDOMS YOU WISH to DESTROY ~~ YOU WANT to be OUR Leader? Show the Paperwork and PROVE WHO YOU ARE ~~ PROVE US WRONG!!!

In defense of Sarah Palin & conservative women

Dec. 8, 2009

Renew America

By Lloyd Marcus

I was in Texas performing at a tea party rally (singer/songwriter of the American Tea Party Anthem). While waiting for my wife, I wandered into the hotel pub. It was Lady’s Night. A cowboy practically had a line of women waiting to dance with him. He held them firm, but gentle. He confidently lead and they gleefully followed. Each knowing she was in good hands. I, along with others, by the looks on their faces, thoroughly enjoyed watching him dance with the women. Why did we enjoy it? It represented the way men should be and how women want them to be. Despite what the radical feminists say, women want men to be strong and confident without being jerks. It is called Biology.

Is chivalry dead? Have we conservative men allowed political correctness to prevent us from treating women the way we instinctively know we should? When my three brothers and I started dating, my dad instructed us. “You take good care and return her home the way you found her.” Following dad’s instruction made us feel good about ourselves. We felt like men.

It is time we conservative guys start acting like men and defend our women folk (a little cowboy lingo). Since her acceptance speech as McCain’s VP nominee, attacks on Sarah Palin have been vile, extremely vicious and beyond the pale. Even Palin’s family including her 14 year old daughter were targeted for destruction by an, dare I use the “E” word, evil media. The Left’s hatred of Sarah Palin is good vs evil. Palin’s book tour is pouring gasoline on the Left’s “destroy Palin at any cost” fire. Governor Palin positively represents motherhood, marriage and traditional Christian values. The Left appears to despise any and all things wholesome.

Unfortunately, it appears even some on our side (conservatives) have bought into the media’s “she is not too bright” portrayal of Palin. When Obama says we have 57 states and other faux pas, his sycophant media circle the wagons around him by saying he is tired or simply misspoke. Meanwhile, every word out of Palin’s mouth is viewed from the template that she is stupid. Who amongst us could withstand such harsh scrutiny.

Well, I am standing up for my awesome conservative sister, Gov. Palin. She has the right stuff to get our country back on track. I love how Palin boldly, without apology, challenges the concept of government run health care, the global warming/climate change scam and her desire to drill for oil to make us energy independent. Talk about backbone. Could Sarah Palin be the reincarnation of John Wayne and Ronald Reagan? No, I do not believe in reincarnation; just having a little fun. My point is despite what the snobby elites, conservative and liberal, think, Sarah Palin is a powerful force to be reckoned with and is great for America.

We the people are so sick of mamby pamsy “middle of the road speak” focus group tested candidates. “Don’t say this because you will offend this crowd and don’t say that because you will offend the other.” For crying out loud, just say what you mean and mean what you say. Show us voters who you are. These are the kind of candidates we voters are longing and tea partying for. And this is why Sarah “what you see is what you get” Palin is a rock star!

I believe strong women inspire men to be strong. They are not offended when we open the door for them, carry their heavy packages and mind our conversation around them. Or has such behavior from men become too “Andy and Mayberry” for our secular progressive crude culture? Trust me, I am not a prude, but radial feminists have diminished women’s power in our society. I was raised a real man treats women with a level of respect. Nobody is allowed to “dis” your momma, wife or your sister.

Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air; a woman using the God given power of her femininity to be a mom, a wife and govern a state. Awesome. I would be honored to say, “Yes, Madam President.”

Not only is the Left committed to keeping women in their place, but blacks as well; all the while claiming to desire progress and liberation for both. Blacks who achieve success without liberal programs and intervention are beaten down and dragged back to the Left’s government dependency plantation. Such uppity independent blacks are strapped in a chair, deprived bathroom privileges and shown videos 24/7 of Sharpton, Jackson and hypocritical rich America hating rappers. The deprogramming message, “America sucks! Racist! Sexist! Homophobic! Liberal democrats are your saviors!”

The Left is equally intolerant of independent thought coming from women. The Left deceptively call their pro abortion a pro choice movement. If choice is their issue, why are radical feminists so offended when a woman chooses not to have an abortion? They have a weird anti male (particularly white male) and family agenda. Outrageously, a feminist leader said “all sex is rape”. These angry bitter women have a distorted view of the world.

Then along comes Sarah Palin; happily married, a happy mom and effective governor. Feminists should regard Sarah Palin as their hero; a shining example of women’s liberation enjoying success in both words, family and career. But instead, the Left seeks to destroy her. Palin is too happy, too good, too pretty, too effective, and most intolerable, too powerful.

I wish to encourage my fellow conservative men to display a little John Wayne type testosterone and defend our feisty conservative women folks. As I am a conservative singer/songwriter, I have penned, performed and recorded a song honoring conservative women titled, “Our Girls”. Along with nationally known women like Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter, Laura Ingram, Michelle Malkin, my song is a tribute to all my patriot sisters that are fighting for the cause of freedom, liberty and conservative principles. Please give “Our Girls” a listen. I promise, it will make you smile.

Does Anyone Look Familiar?

Dec.8, 2009

Thanks J.C.

See the white guy in the white suit…see the blond with the white dress…see the guy in the middle? This picture was taken a few years ago.  It seems Obama has known these two phonies for awhile, at least when he was a senator.  They are getting all this press now as party crashers and the secret service is taking heat.  Funny how this has not come out in the press. I wonder where Michelle was ???

Obama Wants Computer Privacy Ruling Overturned

Dec. 8, 2009

Wired.com

The Obama administration is seeking to reverse a federal appeals court decision that dramatically narrows the government’s search-and-seizure powers in the digital age.

Solicitor General Elena Kagan and Justice Department officials are asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its August ruling that federal prosecutors went too far when seizing 104 professional baseball players’ drug results when they had a warrant for just 10.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ 9-2 decision offered Miranda-style guidelines to prosecutors and judges on how to protect Fourth Amendment privacy rights while conducting computer searches.

Kagan, appointed solicitor general by President Barack Obama, joined several U.S. attorneys in telling the San Francisco-based court Monday that the guidelines are complicating federal prosecutions in the West. The circuit, the nation’s largest, covers nine states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

“In some districts, computer searches have ground to a complete halt,” the authorities wrote. “Many United States Attorney’s Offices have been chilled from seeking any new warrants to search computers.” (.pdf)

The government is asking the court to review the case with all of its 27 judges, which it has never done. If the court agrees to a rehearing, a new decision is not expected for years, and the August decision would be set aside pending a new ruling. Either way, the U.S. Supreme Court has the final say.

The controversial decision, which the government said was contrary to Supreme Court precedent, outlined new rules on how the government may search computers. (.pdf)

Ideally, when searching a computer’s hard drive, the government should cull the specific data described in the search warrant, rather than copy the entire drive, the court said. When that is not possible, the authorities must use an independent third party under the court’s supervision, whose job it would be to comb through the files for the specific information, and provide it, and nothing else, to the government, according to the ruling.

The government said the decision was already chilling at least one rape case in Washington State.

“Federal agents received information from their counterparts in San Diego that two individuals had filmed themselves raping a 4-year-old girl and traded the images via the internet,” the government wrote. “The agents did not obtain a warrant to search the suspects’ computers, however, because of concerns that any evidence discovered about other potential victims could not be disclosed by the filter team. The agents therefore referred the case to state authorities.”

The circuit’s ruling came in a case that dates to 2004, when federal prosecutors probing a Northern California steroid ring obtained warrants to seize the results of urine samples of 10 pro baseball players at a Long Beach, California drug-testing facility. The players had been tested as part of a voluntary drug-deterrence program implemented by Major League Baseball.

Federal agents serving the search warrant on the Comprehensive Drug Testing lab wound up making a copy of a directory containing a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with results of every player that was tested in the program. Then, back in the office, they scrolled freely through the spreadsheet, ultimately noting the names of all 104 players who tested positive.

The government argued that the information was lawfully found in “plain sight,” just like marijuana being discovered on a dining room table during a court-authorized weapons search of a home. But the court noted that the agents actively scrolled to the right side of the spreadsheet to peek at all the players test results, when they could easily have selected, copied and pasted only the rows listing the players named in the search warrant.

Four players whose names were seized, and who were not linked to the BALCO investigation, have been leaked to The New York Times. They are Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Sammie Sosa.

Two dissenting judges wrote that the majority was also sidestepping its own precedent in which the circuit court had denied the suppression of child pornography evidence found on a computer during a search for the production of false identification cards pursuant to a valid warrant.

In 2006, the 9th Circuit originally sided with the government in a 2-1 decision, which the court overturned with an 11-judge “en banc” panel in August.

* Environment * Copenhagen climate change conference 2009 Copenhagen climate conference Copenhagen climate summit in disarray after ‘Danish text’ leak

Dec. 8, 2009

The Guardian

The UN Copenhagen climate talks are in disarray today after developing countries reacted furiously to leaked documents that show world leaders will next week be asked to sign an agreement that hands more power to rich countries and sidelines the UN’s role in all future climate change negotiations.

The document is also being interpreted by developing countries as setting unequal limits on per capita carbon emissions for developed and developing countries in 2050; meaning that people in rich countries would be permitted to emit nearly twice as much under the proposals.

The so-called Danish text, a secret draft agreement worked on by a group of individuals known as “the circle of commitment” – but understood to include the UK, US and Denmark – has only been shown to a handful of countries since it was finalised this week.

The agreement, leaked to the Guardian, is a departure from the Kyoto protocol‘s principle that rich nations, which have emitted the bulk of the CO2, should take on firm and binding commitments to reduce greenhouse gases, while poorer nations were not compelled to act. The draft hands effective control of climate change finance to the World Bank; would abandon the Kyoto protocol – the only legally binding treaty that the world has on emissions reductions; and would make any money to help poor countries adapt to climate change dependent on them taking a range of actions.

The document was described last night by one senior diplomat as “a very dangerous document for developing countries. It is a fundamental reworking of the UN balance of obligations. It is to be superimposed without discussion on the talks”.

A confidential analysis of the text by developing countries also seen by the Guardian shows deep unease over details of the text. In particular, it is understood to:

• Force developing countries to agree to specific emission cuts and measures that were not part of the original UN agreement;

• Divide poor countries further by creating a new category of developing countries called “the most vulnerable”;

• Weaken the UN’s role in handling climate finance;

• Not allow poor countries to emit more than 1.44 tonnes of carbon per person by 2050, while allowing rich countries to emit 2.67 tonnes.

Developing countries that have seen the text are understood to be furious that it is being promoted by rich countries without their knowledge and without discussion in the negotiations.

“It is being done in secret. Clearly the intention is to get [Barack] Obama and the leaders of other rich countries to muscle it through when they arrive next week. It effectively is the end of the UN process,” said one diplomat, who asked to remain nameless.

Antonio Hill, climate policy adviser for Oxfam International, said: “This is only a draft but it highlights the risk that when the big countries come together, the small ones get hurting. On every count the emission cuts need to be scaled up. It allows too many loopholes and does not suggest anything like the 40% cuts that science is saying is needed.”

Hill continued: “It proposes a green fund to be run by a board but the big risk is that it will run by the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility [a partnership of 10 agencies including the World Bank and the UN Environment Programme] and not the UN. That would be a step backwards, and it tries to put constraints on developing countries when none were negotiated in earlier UN climate talks.”

The text was intended by Denmark and rich countries to be a working framework, which would be adapted by countries over the next week. It is particularly inflammatory because it sidelines the UN negotiating process and suggests that rich countries are desperate for world leaders to have a text to work from when they arrive next week.

Few numbers or figures are included in the text because these would be filled in later by world leaders. However, it seeks to hold temperature rises to 2C and mentions the sum of $10bn a year to help poor countries adapt to climate change from 2012-15.

Eligibility issue goes ‘mainstream’

Dec. 8 2009

Western Journalim

What do you have to say about that birth certificate now, Bill O’Reilly and company? Sarah Palin, last year’s vice presidential candidate and the best-selling author in the world right now, affirms that questions about Barack Obama’s eligibility for office are legitimate. This is no longer the “fringe” issue as most of the media would like to portray it. Radio talk-show host Rusty Humphreys asked the former Alaska governor: “Would you make the birth certificate an issue if you ran?” She responded: “I think the public rightfully is still making it… [Read the full story]

Palin now as popular as Obama

American Thinker

William Tate
Barack Obama has sunk to a new low in Gallup’s job approval numbers. The polling firm reported Monday that Obama’s approval rating had dropped to 47% in their rolling three day average.

Perhaps equally important, Gallup says 46% of the people they asked disapprove of the job Obama is doing as president.

Those numbers are almost identical to favorable/unfavorable numbers for Sarah Palin in a new CNN poll , which showed the former Alaska governor at 46% favorable and 46% unfavorable.

Given the Obamedia’s unparalleled trashing of Palin and their sycophantic support of the One, these new numbers–even if temporary–bespeak two important points: the waning influence of the legacy media, and the appeal that Palin has to a substantial portion of the public

They Call It Fiscal Responsibility; We Call It Socialism

As President Barack Obama and his party conspire to destroy — not reform — the greatest health care system in the world in their quest to remake America into a full-blown Eurosocialist state, it is instructive to remember the premise upon which Obama launched this disaster.

In July, Obama said that if we do not control our health care costs, “we will not be able to control our deficit.” He continued: “I’ve also pledged that health insurance reform will not add to our deficit over the next decade, and I mean it. … In addition … the bill I sign must also slow the growth of health care costs in the long run.” Just to be sure there was no misunderstanding, Obama said, “The entire cost of that has to be paid for, and it has got to be deficit-neutral.”

Those who didn’t know this was hogwash in the first place have no excuse not to see it now. There’s nothing deficit-neutral about the plans currently under consideration. There’s nothing fiscally prudent about them. Indeed, they would greatly exacerbate our existing fiscal crisis — not to mention usher in the largest socialistic transformation we’ve yet seen in this nation.

With the information that has now come to light about the costs of “reform,” there is no other rational explanation for Obama’s obsession to enact Obamacare than his desire to increase government control over every aspect of our lives.

As others have noted, Obama and company have employed multiple gimmicks to conceal and misrepresent the true costs of Obamacare. Like other groups wanting to destroy America from the outside, liberals are patient. By backloading their spending, they hope to deceive Americans into thinking their plan is budget-neutral.

Thus, their bills disguise their true net costs by deferring most new spending for five years (while increasing taxes and cutting Medicare almost immediately). This trick is so transparently deceitful that if attempted by a Republican administration, we’d have already heard rumblings for impeachment.

Specifically, Democrats have said their proposal would cost $848 billion over 10 years, but the true cost would be some multiple of that. Using Congressional Budget Office figures, Investor’s Business Daily reports that only 1 percent of the spending would come in the first four years of the 10 years the Democrats are counting (2010-13). If you begin the 10-year calculation in the year appreciable spending would begin — 2014 — the cost would be $1.8 trillion. (Sen. Judd Gregg, it should be noted, estimates the costs for that 10-year period — 2014-23 — would be much greater, at $2.5 trillion.) Over the next five years (2024-28), the costs would escalate even faster, totaling $1.7 trillion.

In addition, the Cato Institute’s Michael Cannon reveals another gimmick Democrats are using to understate the actual costs for the first true 10-year period. Obama, despite his campaign promises to the contrary, would force the voluntarily uninsured to purchase health insurance. Those mandated costs should be counted as a tax just as surely as if they were first paid to the government for distribution to the insurance companies. In fact, the CBO did score similar mandates as taxes under Hillary Clinton’s reform plan in the ’90s. But by treating these mandated costs as “off-budget,” Obama hides 60 percent of the bill’s total costs, according to Cannon. When all these gimmicks are correctly accounted for, says Cannon, “the total cost of ObamaCare reaches … $6.25 trillion.”

If all this weren’t bad enough, be advised that Democrats have employed chicanery on the tax side, as well as the spending side. Dick Morris and Eileen McGann recently disclosed the Democratic trick — contained in both the House and Senate bills — to require states to cover a greater percentage of Medicaid costs, which would hit taxpayers just as hard but would come down technically as tax increases at the state level. The Heritage Foundation’s blog, “The Foundry,” also details a slew of new taxes decreed by Sen. Harry Reid’s health care legislation, totaling some $370 billion over the next 10 years.

If you still don’t believe Obamacare is about increased federal control rather than about cutting costs, you should review provisions in the proposed legislation that would result in federal micromanagement of all private health insurance. As “The Foundry” reports, “Like the others, the Reid bill would subject all private health insurance … to detailed Federal regulation. These so-called ‘insurance reform’ provisions amount to a de facto nationalization of health insurance and they would produce that effect regardless of whether or not Congress creates another, new government-run health insurance plan.”

But as depressing as Obama’s relentless socialist assault on America is, I am continually lifted up by the fighting spirit of those who will never abandon the fight to preserve liberty.

Swine-flu bribe fever!

By Chelsea Schilling
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

World Health Organization scientists are suspected of accepting secret bribes from vaccine manufacturers to influence the U.N. organization’s H1N1 pandemic declaration, according to Danish and Swedish newspapers.

Meanwhile, pharmaceutical profits from swine-flu related drugs have soared – with earnings between $10 billion and $15 billion in 2009, investment bank JP Morgan estimates.

As WND reported, the WHO Director General Margaret Chan initially raised the influenza pandemic alert to its second highest level in May – but evidence reveals the agency may have made it easier to classify the flu outbreak as a pandemic by changing its definition to omit “enormous numbers of deaths and illness” just prior to making its declaration.

The world was gripped with fears of swine flu as the alert increased from Phase 5 to Phase 6, the highest level. Immediately, pharmaceutical companies began working to develop vaccines, and countries tailored their responses to address the situation.

Danish newspaper Information reported that when Chan raised the level of pandemic alert on June 11, the declaration meant substantial economic benefits for the pharmaceutical industry – especially since many countries have contracts with major drug companies and are required to purchase vaccines in the event of a pandemic. Swedish newspaper SvD echoed Information’s report.

“Many of the apparently impartial researchers the WHO uses, however, are paid by the companies that produce vaccines,” states a translated version of the Information article, “Strong lobbying behind WHO resolution on mass vaccination.”

One expert in a WHO H1N1 advisory group, Dr. Albert Osterhaus, has been subject to a Dutch government investigation. The government convened a crisis meeting after an article in Science magazine indicated that Osterhaus has financial interests in several pharmaceutical companies.

Osterhaus, known as “Dr. Flu,” is the head of the department of virology at the Erasmus MC, University of Rotterdam. According to a European Commission Research website, Osterhaus is co-founder of two biotech companies and promotes vaccines as solutions for pandemics.

H1N1

Another expert who advises WHO on vaccines, Dr. Frederick Hayden, is described as a flu-research coordinator from the Wellcome Trust in London.

However, according to the report, Hayden also serves as a “paid adviser” for pharmaceutical companies Roche, RW Johnson, SmithKline Beecham and Glaxo Wellcome.

WHO expert Dr. Arnold Monto is also purportedly a paid consultant for MedImmune, a company that produces nasal flu vaccine; Glaxo Wellcome and ViroPharma. However, WHO’s Strategize Advisory Group of Experts, or SAGE, never divulged those ties, according to the report.

The newspaper also states that numerous pharmaceutical companies maintain an active presence during WHO advisory group meetings, with representatives listed as “observers.”

Professor Tom Jefferson, epidemiologist at the Cochrane Center in Rome, told Information he believes the researchers’ dual roles are problematic, and he noted the WHO’s emphasis on drugs rather than improving hygiene habits.

“The WHO’s latest recommendation on the control of pandemic influenza has frequent washing of hands mentioned twice,” he said. “Vaccines and antivirals are, however, mentioned 24 and 18 times. Why would an international public health agency focus on much more expensive interventions, such as vaccines and medication, when it is not proven that they work?”

Jefferson said washing ones hands is the only proven method of flu prevention.

Wolf Dieter Ludwig, head of drug commission of the German Medical Association, told Der Spiegel he has no doubt pharmaceutical companies have been seeking to capitalize off what he called a “non-existent threat.”

(Story continues below)

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WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl told Information it’s natural to allow representatives of the pharmaceutical industry to participate in WHO meetings.

“Everybody has something to contribute in this process – industry, NGOs [non-governmental organizations] and professional players – so we can gather all information,” he said. “They cannot vote. They have no influence on the outcome, and they can only speak when they are asked. We make vaccine recommendations, so we need knowledge about what is required to produce a vaccine. Only the manufacturers have that knowledge.”

According to the report, WHO does not publicize information about advisers’ financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

“All staff must sign the declaration of conflicts of interest, so we are clear about their background,” Hartl said. “But again, Frederick Hayden is the best influenza virologist in the world, so if you want to know how influenza behaves, you ask Fred Hayden.”

Asked why WHO doesn’t publish the advisers’ financial ties to drug companies, he replied, “I’m not sure why we didn’t publish it. I can’t answer that. … It is possible that we will look at a code of disclosure of financial information, but I cannot promise anything.”

He continued, “WHO has a system that guarantees independence. … We do not let anything or anyone influence us.”

Louise Volle, journalist at the Danish daily and co-author of the report, told Russia Today, “The biggest problem seems to be that we don’t know enough. There’s not enough transparency on financial disclosure on the expert groups used by WHO. … Scientists who appear to be independent are also hired consultants working for the same pharmaceutical companies who produce the vaccines. This is clearly an issue that needs to be taken care of.”

Volle said she does not expect that the WHO will publish the financial disclosures on its experts unless public pressure is put on the organization.

Asked whether any solid investigations are being conducted to explore the allegations, she replied, “Not currently. I don’t think so. … [I]t has to be public what is going on in these meetings and what is going on in these expert groups. Who are the people working for WHO? And who else are they working for?”

According to Voice of America, Keiji Fakuda, WHO director general on pandemic influenza, refuted claims that WHO is in collusion with the pharmaceutical industry. He said 150 million doses of H1N1 vaccine have been distributed in 40 countries.

Meanwhile, WHO reports the global H1N1 death toll at 8,768 as of Dec. 4.

According to estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 2,500 and 6,100 Americans died from swine flu between April and Oct. 17 this year.

However, the CDC also reports that during a typical U.S. winter, normal seasonal flu strains result in an average of 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 American deaths – roughly 10 times the current swine-flu death rate.

Leading epiemiologists are now predicting the pandemic may rank as the mildest on record.